In his conclusion, Proctor noted that Goodson's trial starts on Monday.

"A few business days after that, absent action from this Court, Officer Porter despite his protestations, will be required to take an oath and testify. If he does not, he will go to jail. If he does, and he reiterates what he repeated before, the state has already called that perjury, for which Porter is offered no protection. If he deviates in any way from his earlier testimony, then it is perjury, for which Porter remains defenseless," Proctor wrote.

"The actions of the state and circuit court are without precedent in Maryland law. This Court needs to provide guidance. The bell cannot be unrung, and Porter will be unable to challenge it later. It is imperative that this Court act with alacrity, to five its aegis to one of our rights we hold most dear."

The request is going be referred to one of the 15 judges on the Court of Special Appeals. It is possible a hearing on the request could be scheduled.

Some legal analysts say because of the hearing the Court of Special Appeals could ask for a delay in the Goodson trial, which is scheduled to start on Monday with jury selection.

Two of the trials of officers charged in Freddie Gray's death have been rescheduled.

Baltimore police Sgt. Alicia White's trial (once set for Jan. 25) is now set for Feb. 8, and Officer Garrett Miller's trial (earlier scheduled for Feb. 9) is set to begin March 7. The new dates were chosen by Judge Barry Williams in consultation with attorneys for all parties. The new trial dates will be formalized in an administrative court hearing Friday. The trial dates for Officer Edward Nero and Lt. Brian Rice remain unchanged, according to a statement from the court.

The people who have being forced to pay for tickets to this 6-ring legal circus (Public, especially tax payers in Baltimore) at the very least have a right to monitor and assess the success of it all. It is essential that the Prosecutors reveal their "Report Card" on the first attempted trial that ended in a Hung Jury. Exactly how many (or few) of the 12 were taken in by the Prosecution's BS case? It is surely only on the basis of that result that the Prosecution can justify investing yet more time and tax-payer money in putting on essentially a repeat performance of the first Circus show, and who wants to watch re-runs? The prosecution need to justify putting the accused (and many others) through the torture of a second trial, and of course the corollary to the Porter decision is that the Prosecution need to rethink the efficacy of continuing with the other 5 rings of the Legal Circus.

_________________Do not go gentle into that good night.___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

[...]A court spokeswoman says Judge Krauser will set a deadline for both sides to file written arguments, then the Court of Special Appeals will hold a hearing to consider oral arguments.

There is no deadline for the Court of Special Appeals to rule on this case, so the Goodson trial is delayed until then. A Court of Appeals decision would also impact the start of the trial of Sgt. Alicia White, which is set for February 8, because prosecutors are trying to force Porter to testify at that trial.

Porter is not being forced to testify in the trials of the three other accused officers, Edward Nero, Garrett Miller and Brian Rice. Those trials are scheduled for Late February and early March.

In court today, Judge Williams noted that prosecutors had asked for a continuance to delay this trial, but Judge Williams said that issue is "moot."

In that motion, Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby asked that Goodson's trial be delayed, or barring that Mosby asked they be allowed to retry Porter, before Goodson and White go on trial. The motion was also signed by Deputy State's Attorney Janice Bledsoe and Assistant State's Attorney Matthew Pillion. Attorneys in this case are barred from commenting on any ruling due to a gag order imposed by the judge.

Jury in Officer Porter trial was one vote from acquittal on most serious chargeKevin Rector and Justin Fenton

The jury in the trial of Baltimore Police Officer William G. Porter was one vote from acquitting him of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Freddie Gray, the most serious charge he faced, according to sources familiar with the deliberations.

Judge Barry G. Williams declared a mistrial because the jury deadlocked on all four charges last month. Jurors were two votes from convicting Porter of misconduct in office, and more divided on charges of assault and reckless endangerment, sources said.

How the jury voted was not publicly revealed, and the judge ruled that jurors' names should not be revealed.

Legal experts say the information is critical to understanding the process now playing out as prosecutors and Porter's defense attorneys prepare for his scheduled retrial in June. The information also could help shape legal strategies in the pending cases against the other five police officers charged in Gray's April arrest and death.

Prosecutors and Porter's defense attorneys are barred by a gag order from discussing the case. When reached by The Baltimore Sun, the attorneys declined to be interviewed.

One juror said some on the panel in Porter's trial were driven to tears during deliberations and afterward. The juror agreed to be interviewed by The Sun but asked to remain anonymous because Williams requested that panel members not discuss their experience. Sun reporting corroborated the juror's account of the votes.

As I suspected.. but for one BLM protard, stealth juror this fiasco would be over for Porter. Even the lesser charges smack of a "compromise verdict" to persuade the hold-out to go along with acquittal on main charge. Porter may well be acquitted on all charges. He should be. He should certainly NOT be tried again

To try him again is in itself criminal. Double jeopardy. Anathema to western jurisprudence... to keep trying an individual until you eventually get a jury to convict.

This whole 6-ring circus should be shut down.

_________________Do not go gentle into that good night.___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

They don't count as black because they are police officers, trust me on this, I know Porter, Goodson, and White are black. They lose their "black benefits" when they put on a badge it is that simple in the upside down world of race baiting politics. Mosby is as racist as any BLM activist, in fact she is a BLM activist, did you see her press conference when she announced the indictment?

This is about black politicians benefiting from the death of a black man and promoting the hatred and violence of BLM to keep their voting block coming to the polls.

All my very humble opinion.

_________________If your mind is agitated you will find agitation everywhere. Where else will you find peace if not within you? __ Papaji

The next trial of a Baltimore police officer in the death of Freddie Gray could begin as early as next month after a judge on Wednesday rejected a request from prosecutors that could have tied up the cases in the state appeals court indefinitely.

Judge Barry G. Williams questioned prosecutors' motives for asking him last week to compel Officer William G. Porter to testify against all five of his fellow officers who are facing trial. Until then, they had said Porter was a witness against only two officers.

Williams said prosecutors appeared to have a "dual purpose" for making their request — one being to stall the trials. He denied the motions._______________________

Porter has been ordered by Williams to testify in the trials of Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr. and Sgt. Alicia D. White, and Porter's appeal to block that order is tied up in the Court of Special Appeals. That court will not hear his appeal until March, and could take months to decide.

Joseph Murtha, an attorney for Porter, said calling his client to testify at the rest of the trials — of Officers Edward M. Nero and Garrett E. Miller and Lt. Brian W. Rice — was a "disingenuous pretext for the purpose of getting a postponement."

Prosecutors said that they had not previously contemplated calling Porter at all of the trials, but adjusted their strategy after Porter's trial last month ended in a mistrial.

"We tried to learn something from our experience in trying Officer Porter," Chief Deputy State's Attorney Michael Schatzow told Williams. "We think we have the right to change our mind, and we acknowledge we are changing our mind."

Nero's trial is tentatively slated for Feb. 22, with Miller to follow on March 7 and Rice on March 9. But an attorney for Nero indicated Wednesday that he had a scheduling conflict, and Miller and Rice's trials are not likely to move forward just two days apart.

_________________Do not go gentle into that good night.___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light